Improvement in incubators



c. c. WESTON. INCUBATORQ No 189.820. Patenta& Apr117 ,1877.

w .heating medium.

N. PETERS. PHOTO-LITHDGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. D C.

` ting fowl.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

OHAUNCEY G. WESTON, OF LAUREL, MARYLAND.

iMPROVEWENT IN INCUBATORS,

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 189 820. dated April 17, 1877; application filed March 10, 1877.

To all whom 'it oty concm:

Be it known that I, GHAUNGEY 0. WESTON, of Laurel, in the county of Prince George s, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful lnprovements in Incubators; and I hereby declare the same to be fully described as follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to devices for hatching eggs by artificial beat; and it consists in the combinatio,with any suitable and wellknown form of incubator, ot' a nest oi' nonconductiug material, upon which the eggs are placed, and in which they are partia'lly embedded.

lt consists, further, in a process of incubation, and in certain details of the apparatus, as hereinafter claimed.`

My design isto assimilate more nearly the artificial to the natural process ot' incubation.

Afowl in setting upon e'ggs im parts to them the natural beat of her body from above--a position obviously most unfavorable to a uniform heatingof the contents of the egg--which can thus only becoe heated by conduction, convection being, under the circumstances, impossible. The ini'eence is, since nature never errs, that a uniforn heating ot' the egg is not necessary, nor even desirable, in the process ot' incubation. A provision ot' nature, in natural incnbation, secures the maximum temperature to the Vitellus of the egg, which, being specifically lighter than the albumen,

-floats to the upper surface of the egg, and approaches most nearly to the body ot' the set- The albumcn obviously remains at a lower temperature than the vtellus in natural incubation, While in artificial incubation, as heretofore practiced, the entire coni tents of the egg renain at a sensibly uniform temperature.

In order to assimilate as nearly as possible the shelves of any ordinary incubator with any suitable non-eonducting material, such as earth, sand, charcoal, asbestus, or mineral wool. In this material the eggs are partially embedded, and submitted to the action of artificial heat from any convenient source.

l do. not consider it necessary to enter into a detailed description here of" any form of incubator i My present iuvention is applicable to any `form now in use, and for a particular description oi' one the reader is referred to Letters Patent of the United States granted to me April G, 1875.

In the accompanyingdrawings, Arepresents the hatching-chamber, having a rack or shelt', B, upon which is strewn the non-conducting material O, in which the eggs a a are partially embedded. A pipe, D, conveys the heating mediun, which nay be air, steam, or water. The shelf B and also the bottom ot' the chamber A are perforated, to pernit free ingress of cool air, in order to keep the lower portions ot' the eggs from becoming heated to a temperature equal to that of the upper portions.

The results fiowing from the use of the abovedescribed apparatus are such as might naturally be anticipated. A far greater percentage of the eggs hatch in this than in other incubators, or by the natural process. of incubation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Leta ters Patenta, is

1. An incubator having a bed consisting of a suitable non-conducting material, in which the eggs are partially embedded, substantially as described.

2. The process of artificial incubation herein described, the same consisting in submitting eggs to artificial hoat, the lower portions ot' the eggs being' protected from access ot' the heat, substantially as described.

, GHAUNOEY (J. WESTON.

Wi tn esses R. D. WILLIAMS, A. W. HART. 

